A Secret's Destiny
by AspiringWriterGirl
Summary: Many years have passed since President Phoenix's granddaughter competed in the games, but the pain of Destiny's Little Secret lives on in Panem - but the games continue like every year that's passed [SYOT open]
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games plot, but President Phoenix belongs to me and any tributes belong to the representative writer. *There will be a new list on my profile

A/N: Thank you for reading and supporting this new story

*Should you be unhappy about any way in which your character has been portrayed, or something that they do, then PM me in our chat thread and hopefully I'll be able to sort it out

 **Chapter 01**

President Phoenix looked up at the camera that was in her face, recording her every move. Reading every frown line and hanging hair. This was her final broadcast that would go out to Panem before the next Hunger Games. It had been well over a decade since she had watched her granddaughter die at the hands of the games. Her young and pregnant seventeen year old granddaughter, Arianna Phoenix, died in the arena. Unlike the presidents before her, President Phoenix rejected the Chief Gamemaker's offer for her to resign presidency over to himself. She made sure that Leon Fox knew exactly where to go with his offer.

But today, the president was ready to do the last broadcast in preparation for this year's games. She was going to show no mercy in this year's games. Rumours had spread across the neighbouring districts that she had grown soft and too old to play the role of President, so she was going to set the records straight once and for all.

"Districts of Panem, in preparation for this year's Hunger Games, I have decided to make a number of changes to the games. Now many of you might think that you can intimidate me into passing the role of president to someone else, but I will not be beaten into submission. The death of my granddaughter has not made me soft, so please cease the unnecessary torment. It does not affect me. It hasn't affected me since her death."

The president of Panem continued, before introducing the promo video that was going to be broadcasted all over the districts. People would be crowding around screens in their homes or public halls to catch a glimpse of the elderly president.

"So this year's games marks the twentieth year of my presidency, so be prepared for more twists and turns than you have ever seen before." Phoenix smiled. "There will be no volunteers. You cannot be the career you allegedly know you are, you cannot prove you can beat the games and you cannot protect the ones you love."

One girl watching the broadcast was Storybook Varela, more commonly known as Story. She sat on the window ledge to one side of the room and let her head roll around to stare out of the window. Outside, she saw the vast stretches of land that made up Panem. Her hands clenched around a leather bound notebook – it was the book that kept all of her stories, haikus and letters in. For the eighteen year old girl, reading and writing was her release, the way she relaxed.

"Story?" Story's younger brother, Pensieve, was watching her with a look of fear plastered across his face. "Have you written another chapter for Rosin's Quest?"

A smile crept across Story's face, because she felt insecure about her writing, but was warmed to the heart that her brother was taking an interest.

As she was about to explain the current situation of the story – that it was in the concluding chapter, her sister interrupted.

"One of Tag's friends is here. Comedy or something like that?" Allegory said in a dull tone as in stepped in the guy in question behind her.

Story smiled. "Hi Com- Tag's not here, but feel free to his portion of dinner." She pulled a chair away from the shiny oak table. "He won't mind. Or if he does, then you can play fight in the yard."

Comedy nodded slowly, peering in the pot that had been left on the stove by Story's parents. "It looks more like something I'd paint the walls with – that's a bright colour for a liquid!"

Allegory glowered at Comedy before slumping down in the chair at one end of the table. She found him annoying- especially his eternally optimistic approach. There may have been a tiny part of Allegory that found Comedy cute. The way he'd fuss over his looks whenever someone ruffled his hair, or how his clothes sat. Allegory was lost in the moment, staring at Comedy's loosely curled black hair that dropped below his ears and his chocolate brown eyes that had a sparkle to them.

"Allegory loves Comedy!" Pensieve squealed, before immediately covering his mouth.

Comedy laughed softly, but stopped as Allegory flicked some of her dinner at her brother.

Pensieve slowly lifted his spoon and drove it into the bowl – ignoring Story's pleas to put it down. He threw the spoon at Allegory, who immediately screamed, lifting the bowl from the table. Comedy tried to catch the bowl from the girl, but ended up with the entire contents down him.

"Allegory!" Story shouted. "Comedy, I am so- Com, why are you laughing? You're covered in the stuff. Mum's going to freak when she sees this wasted. Pensieve, go and cool off outside – Allegory, wipe up this mess." She tried to usher Com out of kitchen, but he was already in the process of removing his stained shirt. "What are you doing?"

Com stood in the doorway, holding the balled up shirt in his hand. "What? If I'm reaped, I need to make sure that people remember me looking at my best, right?" He winked at Story before strolling out the door. "See you later!"

Story smiled a lopsided smile – that one you do when you know that you can't help but find it funny and smile.

Even when you know the games are only round the corner.

 **Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Well hello there! There are lots of spaces on this story (just PM me for the tribute profile sheet and I'll let you know which spaces are available! Thank you so much to the authors who submitted characters probably years ago for being so patient with me** **Hope you liked Celtic and Wetstar's characters Story and Comedy**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games plot, but President Phoenix belongs to me and any tributes belong to the representative writer. *There will be a new list on my profile shortly

A/N: Thank you for reading and supporting this new story There are lots of spaces available to submit a character to so please drop me a PM if you want to submit a character!

*Should you be unhappy about any way in which your character has been portrayed, or something that they do, then PM me in our chat thread and hopefully I'll be able to sort it out

 **Chapter 02**

"You cannot be the career you allegedly know you are, you cannot prove you can beat the games and you cannot protect the ones you love."

The president's words rang out in Magnus' ears. He looked across the room at his older brother, Maxim, who had made a plan to volunteer in an emergency. Maxim was eighteen years old and this would be his last year to be reaped, so it would be his last chance to have been in the games. With volunteering off the table this year, it forced Maxim into a corner where he would be unable to save his little brother.

This was only Magnus' second year in the reaping bowl and he was terrified of the thought of being in the town centre next year without his older brother. The thirteen year old abruptly stood up and ran out into the dark, gloomy streets. He came to a stop in the centre of the city where they were setting up a stage ready for the reaping that would happen in a number of days. There were a couple of women sweeping and cleaning the stage with miserable expressions on their faces.

"Magnus!" a quiet voice called out from the alley that went down a narrow path between two towering buildings.

It was Magnus' close friend Lucinda. She was withdrawn, like him, and when they were alone, they would plan escape routes where they would pack a bag and run away through an abandoned coal mine in the mountains on the outskirts of their home district.

"Come on…" She waved her hand, ushering him over. "There's something I want to show you." Lucinda's small hand grabbed Magnus' and she pulled him away down the alleyway.

It was amazing how dark it could get when you took the alleyways of district two, purely because of the height of the towering grey buildings overhead.

"I found something that I think you should know about." Lucinda started, looking over her shoulder to check what Magnus' expression was. "I don't even know how I came across this, but it should be right about… here."

Lucinda stopped at a drain cover on the far side of their town at the end of the alleyway and folded her arms. "Well I can't lift it." She giggled and watched Magnus' cheek brighten.

The young boy crouched down on the floor, feeling his trousers going damp from where he knelt. His breathing deepened at the thought of going down into the sewers.

"Are you sure about this, Lucinda?" Magnus asked, planting his hands onto the drain, threading his fingers through the small gaps in preparation to lift it up. "Why are you laughing?"

"Oh Maggie- you are silly. Did you really think that I would drag you down there?" Lucinda pulled him up and indicated a patch of old and shrivelled vines. "Help me pull these off."

Magnus shrugged his shoulders, not really wanting to say no and started to grab hold of the vines, pulling them away. They felt dusty in his hands and almost disintegrated as he feebly threw them to one side. He had to admit that he was intrigued as to what Lucinda had found behind the vines.

The mousy girl pushed a rock enough out of the way that she could squeeze past it. When she noticed Magnus frozen at the cave like entrance, she called out to him.

"Be brave Magnus – it's just like an adventure for us."

Telling someone to be brave when they just weren't strong was a pointless task. Whilst Magnus was a smart boy who knew there was nothing to worry about, he certainly lacked the strength and bravery that his older brother Maxim exuded. Even though Lucinda was just as shy as Magnus, she had a flair for exploring and always tried to bring out the best in her best friend. They had been friends ever since Lucinda and the Burrow family had moved towns within the second district. The pair shared a passion and flare for adventures and wanted to go explore Panem – to go beyond the second district. On her twelfth birthday a couple of months ago, they made a pact.

 _If either of us, or both of us survive past our eighteenth birthdays, then we will go and explore the other districts. Even if it means camping in the middle of nowhere. Magnus and Lucinda, Panem explorers!_

"I'm coming, Lucinda!" Magnus squeaked, pushing through the narrow and tight gap, scraping his bare arms. "Woah- what is this?"

It was like a secret, little bunker hidden in the hillside. Neither of the children thought they would find something like this in their home district.

"It's someone's secret bunker, but look at this." Lucinda opened up a notebook that had been wedged into a conveniently carved out slot in the earth wall. "I found it earlier but thought I should put it back in case the owner came looking for it…"

Magnus pulled open the notebook which was stiff and rigid like it hadn't been opened in years – after from when Lucinda opened it to one point recently. He came across a strange document from more than fourteen years ago.

"What's this?" he asked, looking over at Lucinda.

"It's an article from ages ago and it holds possibly one of the biggest secrets ever. Magnus… What that document holds is possibly the only secret that the high up people would want to keep buried. The rumours are true."

Magnus felt like he was three or four steps behind his friend and screwed up his face in the process. "What are you talking about?"

Lucinda prised the document from his grip. "This proves that what President Phoenix told us about her granddaughter's baby was a lie – the baby isn't dead. It's alive and kicking- well, living their life. Magnus, don't you get it – we are possibly one of few people who know the real truth."

"So out there somewhere in Panem, is the baby of President Phoenix's granddaughter? Maxim always joked about the rumours being true. I only learnt from him about Arianna Phoenix…" Magnus' mouth dropped open. "It could even be someone that we know…"

 **Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = So now you have met Magnus, but there are plenty of spaces available for character submissions**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games plot, but President Phoenix belongs to me and any tributes belong to the representative writer.

A/N: The character submission is still open, so do PM me if you're interested

*Should you be unhappy about any way in which your character has been portrayed, or something that they do, then PM me in our chat thread and hopefully I'll be able to sort it out

 **Chapter 03**

Salix Tomer led a comfortable life in district seven – one where he was sociable and active. He was a typical all rounded boy who loved to do things that got him some decent attention.

This sixteen year old boy lay in his bed, staring at the wood rafters overhead. His room was small and just about had enough room for a bed and desk. Running a hand through his cropped black hair, he slowly sat up, preparing himself for the day of the reaping. As he looked over at the door, he saw an outfit that his father had hung onto the handle.

It was like tradition, Salix's father would always save for a new outfit for each year of the reaping. The same couldn't be said for his younger brother Nairn who ended up with Salix's hand me downs.

Salix took the moss green shirt off the hanger and changed quickly, knowing that the reaping ceremony was fast approaching.

"Salix! Salix, come on!" his younger brother shouted, hammering the door before running down the stairs to greet his dad.

A sharp exhalation from Salix and he was ready to leave. He told himself that this year's reaping was going to be exactly like the last four that he had been included in. As he prepared to leave the room, he turned back and took it all in one last time. He always took the room in one last time before going to the ceremony, because there was no knowing what might have happened in the reaping. At least this year, he might be able to sneak off with his friend Hinoki and some of the older boys in the district. They would go to the lake over on the district's border and drink so poorly brewed alcohol in celebration of surviving another reaping.

"Salix!" his father bellowed from downstairs, ushering his son to come downstairs. "Morning son, the shirt looks good…"

The teenager managed to nod politely and then slipped out of the door to chase after Nairn who was nudging a deflating football around the garden. Salix hated saying goodbyes because it was almost like he was accepting that he could get reaped – even if Nairn always insisted on hugging his father before they left.

"Come on Nairn," Salix said calmly, walking past his brother and turning around the corner. "Nairn!"

"Salix… Salix… Salix, wait! Look…" Nairn grabbed hold of Salix's arm. "She's watching us…"

Over at the far end of the street, they could see a woman. She looked a little older than their father and had long and straggly black hair that hung down past her shoulders. Her clothes were damp and clung to her boney frame as she watched the pair. She didn't even have shoes on, and Salix hated to think about what she might be walking on, but he had no reason to worry about her so he pushed his brother on. They tried to get past her quickly, but she uttered something slowly.

"Salix?"

It was definitely his name that she said.

He froze.

He had never seen her before in his life, but somehow she know his name… How?

"Nairn. Salix…" she said louder.

Nairn couldn't help but look around to see her closely. "Salix, she knows our names."

"It is you!" the lady gasped, edging closer to them. "I knew I would find you." She held her hands out to Salix, but he stepped back. "It's me, I'm your mother. Oh Salix, you've grown so big. You look so much like your grandfather, my father. And Nairn- you are such a handsome little gentleman."

The lady reached out to touch Nairn's cheek, but Salix was not so sure about allowing this woman in.

"Come on Nairn, we have to go now…"

There were a couple of other teenagers that lived nearby who were staring as they passed, looking at the woman with Salix and Nairn.

"Please Salix. Don't walk away from your mother," she called out, pleading the older boy to not walk away. "Salix!" She threw herself down in front of the boys, putting her arms around Salix's waist.

He could feel her grimy hands slightly dampening his freshly laundered trousers. There was a part of him that wanted to kick her away and carry on towards the reaping stage in the town centre. From what little things that Salix could remember of his mother, she was addicted to the drugs and was known to dabble in morphine. It was Salix's father who did the hardest thing imaginable. In the darkest of nights, Larix Tomer took his one and three year old sons away and moved in with a new family friend. A friend that their mother would not know, so they would be safe in the short term.

But as Salix looked into his mother's dark brown eyes, he knew that he didn't have it in him to turn away from her.

"Salix?" Nairn tried to pull his brother away from the woman who was attached at the waist to him. "We're going to be late."

"Salix – please, you have to help me…" the woman groaned, dropping down to the ground. "It's the reaping and I need you to do me one last favour. Please, ever reaping I take a shot to numb the pain that my boys are in the bowl so many times."

Something didn't add up to Salix, and he felt the anger instantly building up in him. "What do you mean, many times? Dad has only put us in once, he doesn't care about food tokens in place of our chances of being reaped going up. Did you put our names in again?!"

"Salix, I'm sorry!" she wailed, crawling along the damp ground towards her two sons who stepped back away from her. "I was desperate- please! Please don't leave me!" Her screamed echoed throughout the streets.

"Come on Nairn."

Salix pushed his little brother on their journey, trying to be brave and not let everything get to him. Before he only had his and Nairn's name in the reaping bowl once, so to know that they were in there more than once terrified him. He had no idea just how many times his mother had put their names in the reaping bowl.

He could feel his knees shaking with every step that he took towards the reaping ceremony, and he wished that he could just run away, but the Capitol would find him the moment he stepped out of his home district.

It felt like a fifty fifty chance of being reaped, but now it felt like an eighty twenty situation in Salix's eyes.

 **Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = So you've now met Salix, and my SYOT's end up being slow, but I'm trying to speed it up** **If you want to create an OC, then please get in touch and PM me**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games plot, but President Phoenix belongs to me and any tributes belong to the representative writer.

A/N: The character submission is still open, so PLEASE do PM me if you're interested, I have to of spaces to fill

*Should you be unhappy about any way in which your character has been portrayed, or something that they do, then PM me in our chat thread and hopefully I'll be able to sort it out

 **Chapter 04**

Zea Granger of district nine scratched her arm as she sat on a fallen log in her favourite field. Here, it was calm and peaceful - the wind blowing through the tall grass was so mesmerising to watch that she would have moments where she would forget why she was there. It had turned into a ritual to escape her parent's arguing.

Tomorrow was the reaping day and Zea was her usual pessimistic self. There was always a sense of dread in her family in he run-up to the Games as she was the youngest of all her cousin and having no siblings meant that she had to go the reaping alone. For her first and second reaping, she was standing alongside her cousins. After then, she was on her own.

At least the end is in sight. Only two more years in the reaping after tomorrow.

A string of birds flew overhead into the pink sunset that made Zea wonder what it might be like to be free with no ties to the Hunger Games and no reapings.

Zea glanced over her shoulder, looking at the small settlement where she lived. She had known no other home. One home district was all that everyone knew in Panem, unless they were rich or lucky enough to move to the Capitol. Or were reaped.

As she walked slowly along the top of the field, there was a faint hissing symphonies of the crickets and cicadas hiding the the trees nearby. There was an abundance of upturned steel baths drying outside the houses. This year marked a spike in twelve year olds entering into the reaping bowl, so parents had chosen to up the stakes in any way they could. Washing and preening seemed to be high up on their hypothetical lists.

"Hello there Zea," the elderly lady of the town called out softly from her porch. "Been out to the fields again, have you?"

This lady was known as Sable. Her skin was an olive tone from working outside and her eyes were of a grey tiny that gave her the most piercing gaze ever. Whilst she may not have married or had any children, she cared for each and every one of the young teens that resided in their small town in district eight. It had been known that on occasion, she would give a flower to each of them as they walked towards the reaping stage.

Zea was slightly taken aback that Sable knew about her disappearances to the Fields and avoided the piercing gaze as she nodded quickly.

"I thought so..." Sable murmured before adding, "Thought I heard those parents of yours arguing. Why don't you come sit down with old Sable?"

"Yes Ma'am," replied Zea, taking a seat on the porch beside Sable's rocking chair. She hugged her knees, resting her chin over them.

"Now you certainly seem nervous. How about a swig of my secret tipperoo?"

Zea shook her head violently. "Oh no, I'm okay. I've seen what your homemade brew does to the eighteen year olds who surviving their seven years in the reaping bowl."

"What can I say?" Sable looked up at the pink sky over the roofs of the houses opposite. "You have nothing to worry about Zea."

"I know..." Zea mumbled, trying to sound confident. "Well I should probably get home before my parents send for the Warden and his Peacekeepers. They would probably say they think I've run off in protest of the games."

"Oh you have quite the imagination there. I thought about doing that in my time too," Sable sighed, pulling at the loosely crocheted blanket draped across her frail knees. "Run along now and get a good night's rest."

Zea waved goodbye and raced for home. Having been banned from going out in the evenings in favour of studying, Zea knew she would have to sneak in through her open bedroom window. There was still the hubbub of a now dying argument between her parents.

There was a small shed hatched up close to the house that provided the perfect middle ground to get up to the second floor.

Zea used a bucket and then a large water tank to get up onto the roof of the shed, planting her feet on perhaps the only two points strong to support her.

Then came the tricky part. Boosting herself up to her window. Zea had bent her knees in preparation to jump and hadn't realised that the arguing inside had stopped when she heard a stern voice call out to her.

"You do know the front door works just as well as the window." Zea's father, Demetrius Granger, stood tall and firm beside the shed. His arms were crossed tightly, emphasising his disappointment. "I thought your mother and I made it quite clear that you are not to go out after dark."

Zea jumped down from the shed, barging past her father, saying, "Yeah- well I could be dead in a few weeks so I thought I would break a few rules and enjoy life here for one more night. At least give me that privilege this time."

She ignored what he said next, because as she opened the front door, her mother, Ceres, was sat at the bottom of the stairs. Ceres let out a wail, "Zea! Where were you? We nearly told the warden you had run off!" Her dark eyes bore into Zea. "Why did you run off?"

It felt like there was no escape from her parents at this point, so the young sixteen year old endured their lecture with a stern expression to show that she would not be affected by it. Zea was mentally stronger than they allowed her to be. Once she felt like her parents had rambled enough, she slapped her knees before getting up. A sure sign that she was walking away.

"Right... I'm going to go to bed now, because I have a pretty big day ahead of me tomorrow." Zea brushed her hair over her shoulder before hurrying up the stairs and into her room.

It took a fair bit of strength to stop her from screaming in irritation. Instead, she compensated by throwing one of her tatty second hand textbooks out of the open window. The dull sound of it hitting the ground outside was almost satisfying.

As she set about doing her nighttime ritual - starting off with washing her face in the ceramic bowl in the corner of her room, Zea caught a glimpse of the door opening and Ceres stepped timidly into the youngster's room.

"I'm really not in the mood, Mum," Zea sighed, hastily scrubbing her face and neck to get rid of any dirt or oil. "Tomorrow's a big day and I need to look my best in case I have to represent district eight."

Ceres threw herself onto the floor, hugging her daughter's legs as she cried. "Please don't talk like that, Zea. No mother wants her baby to fight in the games - no one more than me..."

Zea shook her legs to ease her mum off, water dripping from her face. "Please Mum, don't do this to me. I need to get a good night's sleep now."

Demetrius appeared in the doorway and barked at his wife to leave their daughter alone.

With her head hung down, Ceres dragged herself up from the floor and followed her husband out.

Zea leant back against the wall, drying her face with a small rag and pulled her skin loosely.

 _What the hell am I doing?... maybe I should have run away._

 **Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Woah, it has certainly has been a while now – but I have spaces left for new tributes** **PM me!**


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